Can HCS Succeed as Early-Stage Toxicology Tool?
Is early-stage drug toxicity testing the killer app high-content screening has been waiting for? Scientists from HCS vendor Cellomics, drug maker Pfizer, and drug screening service shop Cerep seem to think it is possible. At a Cellomics European user group meeting in London two weeks ago in conjunction with the Marcus Evans Practical Experiences in High-Content Screening conference, Peter O’Brien, head of Pfizer’s European discovery toxicology biomarkers laboratories, presented data that showed how Cellomics’ KineticScan high-content screening platform could be used to test drug toxicity in immortalized human hepatocytes, and possibly wean out potentially toxic compounds before they find their way into later — and significantly more expensive — animal testing. The research could be good news for all HCS vendors, who have been marketing a cutting-edge technology that has yet to settle into a consistent money-making niche within the drug-discovery process. HCS has been adopted — with mix
